Having roots in Colonial America is both a source of pride and
frustation: How awesome that your ancestors have been on American
soil so long and helped shape the direction of our country—but how
difficult to trace them in centuries-old, unfamiliar and often-incomplete records.

Here's your chance to get Colonial genealogy research advice from
one of the best: New England genealogy expert D. Joshua Taylor.

1. Verify, verify, verify. Because so many of our
Colonial families have "already been done," it is important to
verify data that has already been published. Mistakes in Colonial
families can filter through several generations and cause
headaches for genealogists.

2. It hasn't all been done. It is important to get over the
common mindset that "my colonial families have all been
researched," as there's still so much to discover. During the
webinar, we'll talk about a few new resources for tracing Colonial
families that are largely untapped by genealogists.

3. Study your history. The Colonial period is a fascinating
time in our history, and it is important that you know exactly
what was happening in the areas your ancestors were living.
Boundary changes, disputes, conflicts with American Indians and a
host of other events did impact the lives of our Colonial
ancestors.

In the webinar, Josh will show you key strategies for discovering
early American roots and tracing Colonial immigrants, which groups
settled which areas during the era, common and lesser-known
resources for Colonial kin, and the best websites to use.

Once you're registered for the webinar, you'll get

Participation in the live presentation on Nov. 13

The chance to submit questions before the event and again
during the webinar

Access to the webinar recording to view again as many times as
you like

When my husband and I were house-hunting awhile back, we looked at a
house adjoining a small pioneer cemetery nearly concealed by trees.
Which I thought was cool—you could see the area's history in the
names on the worn stones. My husband said, "Quiet neighbors."

But a
few friends looked stricken and said they might have to think twice
about coming over.

So it goes for many of us genealogists. We're fascinated by
cemeteries and death records; other people think that's creepy. But
in the spirit of genealogy and Halloween, here are some tips on
finding your ancestors' death records:

Death records are generally available after the state passed a
law that counties or towns had to keep records and forward them
to the state health department or vital records office. To find
out when that was for your ancestor's state, download
our free US Vital Records Chart (PDF document) from here. Compliance with the law wasn't
always 100 percent, so keep that in mind.

Restrictions on public access to death records are generally
shorter than those for birth records—depending on the state,
it's usually 25 to 50 years if you're not immediate family.
Check the state vital records office website for this
information.

The Chronicling
America free, searchable database of historic US
newspapers, has posted its 5 millionth newspaper page. Launched
by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the
Humanities in 2007 as part of the National Digital Newspaper
Program, the site digitizes newspapers published between 1836
and 1922. It now has more than 800 newspapers from 25 states.

Old Weather, a
joint project from the National Archives and National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, will have citizen
scientists transcribing historic Arctic and worldwide weather
data from digitized Navy, Coast Guard, and Revenue Cutter ship
deck logs. Digital images of the logbooks will be available on
the project's website and on Archives.gov. The
records offer access to weather data and climate patterns from
your ancestor's day, as well as details on US maritime history,
military operations and scientific exploration. Learn more about the project
and participate at OldWeather.org.

A new volunteer genealogy lookup site called Gen Gathering has
announced it's looking for volunteers to do simple lookups for
others in their home libraries or nearby repositories or
cemeteries. You also can use the site to find volunteers who
might be able to do lookups for you. Learn more on the Gen
Gathering website.

I've just recently started the phase in my genealogy search where
you contact distant cousins to exchange family information. It's a
fun phase!, and not just because of the enlightening genealogy
information and ancestral photos that turn up. It's neat to see
how we're related and think about all the other folks out there who
could by my cousins.

This is what reverse genealogy is all about: finding cousins,
sharing family information and memories, and breaking down research
brick walls.

It's starting with your ancestors and working forward
in time to find living relatives (the reverse of what genealogists
typically do).

Research Strategies: Reverse Genealogy article download
by Lisa Louise Cooke: Get advice for making like Sherlock Holmes
and finding cousins, including tips for figuring out where to
look, as well as the best websites and directories
to use.

Reverse Genealogy independent study course download:
This course, also developed by Lisa Louise Cooke, has in-depth
instructions on tracing your family lines forward to find living
relatives.

They're Alive: Finding Living Relatives on-demand
webinar by Thomas MacEntee: Learn about using people-finding
websites, how to approach a possible cousin (without feeling
like a stalker) and more.

Step by Step Guide: Safely Sharing Data Online article
download by Rick Crume: You want to find relatives and you want
them to find you, but how do keep from putting "too much" out
there (and maybe letting the wrong people find you)? This advice
will help you stay safe.

Called ANC
Explorer, the database is available online and as a Mobile app. You can
search it to locate gravesites on a map; get details including
birth, death and interment dates, and branch of service; generate
front and back photos of a headstone or monument (where available);
and get directions to those gravesites.

Building it led to the first review, analysis and
coordination of almost 150 years of Arlington Cemetery records. The Army
photographed 259,978 gravesites, niches and markers and instituted a
rigorous process to review each headstone photo with cemetery
records and other historical documents. The effort grew out of reports in 2010 of
misidentified graves and poorly kept records at the cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery was established during the Civil War on
the grounds of Arlington House, once the estate of the family of
Martha Custis Lee, wife of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Veterans
and family members from the Civil War and every subsequent US war
are buried on its 624 acres.

The first soldier buried there is Pvt. William Henry Christman of
Pennsylvania, on May 13, 1864.

Online genealogy company Ancestry.com,
rumored for months to be seeking a buyer, has found one in European
private equity firm Permira.

Ancestry.com announced that company owned by the Permira funds and
co-investors has entered into a merger agreement to acquire
Ancestry.com for $32 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at
$1.6 billion. Ancestry.com president and CEO Tim Sullivan, as well
as its CFO/COO Howard Hochhauser, will keep a majority of their
equity stakes in the company. Spectrum Equity will also remain an
investor.

The transaction, subject to stockholder approval and other closing
conditions, is expected to close in January 2013.

According to the announcement
of the agreement, Ancestry.com will keep its focus on content,
technology and user experience. It'll continue a growth strategy led
by content acquisition and technology investment, with the support
of the Permira funds and the investor group. It'll also expand its
product offerings in areas such as DNA, and build the Ancestry.com
brand and the family history category on a global basis.

There are no anticipated changes in Ancestry.com’s operating
structure. Ancestry.com will remain headquartered in Provo, Utah,
with a continued large presence in San Francisco, Dublin, London and
other international markets.

Look for a new blog soon from the Library of Congress: To complement
its Civil War in America exhibition, the LOC will debut a new blog
in November to chronicle more than 40 folks from the North and South
whose lives were affected by the war.

Posts will use first-person
accounts such as diaries, letters and published memoirs. “Bloggers”
will include people such as Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, Stonewall
Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Walt
Whitman, Elizabeth Keckley, Eugenia Phillips and John F. Chase. You
can find the blog starting Nov. 12 at blogs.loc.gov.

Military records website Fold3 reached a milestone this week when
when the site exceeded 100,000,000 images of historical records. Read
more about this achievement on the Fold3 blog.
The site, which launched in January 2007 as Footnote, has worked
with partners including the National Archives, Allen County Public
Library, FamilySearch and others to digitize records. Ancestry.com purchased the site in
2010 and last year rebranded it Fold3.com.

The 1911 census of England and Wales has details on places of birth,
family members, occupations, how many children had been born to a
marriage, how many were still alive at the time of the census, and
how many had died.

You'll need to register for a free account at either site to view
the full transcription of a census entry. To view the original census record, subscribe or purchase
credits on the site.

Ancestry.com is issuing daily mystery genealogy challenges
and that come with chances to win prizes. Use
the site's death records collections to answer a challenge (or
you could just wing it) and you'll be entered into a Nov. 2 grand
prize drawing for a new iPad.

New challenges will be available Oct. 19, 22, 24, 26, 29, and
31. If you answer the challenge correctly, you'll either be
entered into a prize drawing for that challenge (Monday and
Wednesday challenges) or receive a bonus entry for the grand prize
drawing (Friday challenges).